Corn-harvester.



"No. 888,353. PATENTED MAY 19, 1908. R. ROBINSON.

CORN HARVESTBR.

APPLICATION FILED use. a, 1906 6 SHEETS-SHEBT 1.

No. 888,353. 1 PATENTED MAY 19, 1908. R. ROBINSON.

001m HARVESTER.

AQPPLIOATION IILBD DEC. e. 1906.

" s SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IIIIIIWEr mfouwna No. 888,353. PATENTED MAY 18, 1908.

R. ROBINSON. 001111 HARVBSTER.

APPLIOATION FILED DEC. 8 190B.

' 6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

No. 888,353. XATENTED MAY 19, 1908.

R. ROBINSON.

CORN HARVBSTER. uPLloATlon nun D1108. 1906.

5 sums-sum a.

witness I v g .No. 888,353.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' RAY ROBINSON, OF WAKEFIELD, NEBRASKA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO HARRY ROBINSON,

OF WAKEFIELD, NEBRASKA.

CORN-HARVESTER.

Specificatioh of Letters Patent.

Patented May 19, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RAY'BoBiNsoN,a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Wakefield, in the county of Dixon and State of Nebraska, have invented new and useful Improvements in Corn-Harvesters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to corn harvesters, and one of the principal objects of the invention is to provide means for cutting the stalks, snapping the ears from the stalks, husking the ears, and shredding the stalks to form fodder, these operations being carried on continuously as the machine travels over the field.

Another object of my invention is to provide novel means for gathering the stalks and layin them with the tops upward upon a trave ling belt which conveys them back to the snapping rolls into the cutter mechanism.

Still another object is to provide a series of reel arms for engagingth'e stalks as they are led between the divider boards and carry said stalks backward to the operative mechanism, and to provide endless conveyers for carrying the shredded stalks and the husked corn out at the side of the machine.

These-and other objects may be attained by means of the construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 isa plan view of the same. ,Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 3-3, Fig. 2, looking'in the direction indicated by the arrow. Fig. 4' is a perspectiveview of a discharge hopper for the shredded stalks. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of one end of the cutter bar for severing the stalks, and show- -ing the means for reciprocating said bar. Fig. 6 is a perspective view, showing one of the reel arms and the means for' actuating the same. of the clutch for throwing the mechanism into and out of o eration. Fig. 8.is a plan view of a modifiec form of divider board and arrangement of gathering chains. Fig. 9 is a detail plan view of the shafts and gearing for operating the cutterbar and the reel arms. Fig. 10 is a detail perspective view of a pivoted frame upon which the mechanism is mounted.

Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view .fl'OIlt end of the side bars are the oppositely disposed divider boards or gathering arms 3, said divider boards being curved upwardly and backwardly, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. Gathering chains 4, the links of which are provided with outwardly extending fingers 5, pass around sprocket wheels 6, 7-

journaled under the dividing boards, the sprocket wheel 7 being mounted upon an inclined shaft 8 which carries at its lower end a bevel gear 9 which meshes with a similar gear 10 on a transverse shaft 10 havin at its outer end a'bevel gear 9 which mes es with a gear 10 on a longitudinally disposed shaft 11. The shaft 11' is provided with a bevelpinion 12 which engages a bevel gear 13 mounted upon a transverse shaft .14 carrying a sprocket Wheel 15 which is engaged by a sprocket chain 16 passing around a sprocket wheel 17 on the axle 18 of the ground wheels 19. A reciprocating cutter bar 20 of the usual or any preferred construction extends transversely of the frame underneath the divider board 3, said cutter bar adapted to be reciprocated between finger i, plates 21 supported upon the frame by means of a vertical lug 22 provided with a slot'23 engaged by a pin 24 upon a disk 25 carried upon the end of shaft 11, as shown more particularly in Fig. 5.

As shown in Fig. 8, the divider boards 3" extend backward further than those shown in the other views, and the gathering chains 4 are mounted upon sprocket wheels 6, 7 and 8 to provide a leadin which the stalks are led backward to the cutter 10, the fingers 11 projecting fromthe gathering chains bein (isposed alternately 0 channel 9, between I in the leading channel-9, as shown in said figure.

The gathering reels are-mounted upon vertically disposed cranked shafts 26 journaledat their lower ends 27 in the side bars of the a frame, and their upper ends being braced by cross braces 28 secured at their rear ends to a housing 29 for the husking and shredding mechanism. The shafts 26 are each rovided with cranked portions 30 disposer at four equidistant points projecting outward from said shaft in directions at right angles one to the other, alternately, as shown more particularly in Fig. 6. Gathering arms 31 comprising curved rods are mounted in sleeves 32, and 'said sleeves are journaled' upon the cranked portions of the shafts, 26, the outer ends of said gathering arms 31 being pivoted at 33 to backwardly extending connecting rods 34, the rear ends of which are pivoally-connected by staples or similar fastenings 35 to the housing 29, so that the rods 34 may move laterally. The lower ends of the shafts 26 are provided with beveled pinions 36 42 which passes around sprocket wheels 34,

44 75 and 45 mounted upon shafts journaled in the housing 29. The endless belt 39 is provided with slats 46 and the upper end of said belt passes around a roller 47 journaled in the housing 29, said roller 47 carrying the sprocket wheel 45 mounted upon its shaft outside the housing 29, as shown more particularly in Fig. 1. Snapping rollers 48, which are shown as being longitudinally corrugated, are journaled at their opposite ends in the housing 29, and the shafts of said rollers are providedwvith gear wheels 49 which mesh with each other on the outside of the housing 29. A shredding roller 50, provided with a series of radially arranged knives 51, is journaled in thehousing 29 back of the snap ing rollers 48. An inclined guide boar 52 extends across and under the snapping rolls 48 to deposit the ears of corn upon the husking rollers 53, disposed in series extending across the frame. The lower ends of the husking rolls 53 are journaled in a bracket 54 secured at its ends to the inner walls of the housing 29, and the upper ends of said rolls are journaled in a similar bracket 55, secured in a like manner to the inner walls of said housing. The husking rolls are provided with radial husking fingers 56, and intermediate grooves 57, and at the upper ends of said rollers, the shafts 58 are each provided with a gear wheel 59 which meshes with a similar gear upon the next adjacent snapping roll, and so on throughout the series. Upon the upper ends of the shafts 58 bevel gears 60 mesh with a similar gear 61 mounted on a shaft 62 journaled in the walls of the housing 29. These husking rolls are disposed in an inclined direction and at their lower ends the husked ears are discharged through an opening 63 in a chute 64- extending across the front of. the housin and mounted in said chute is an endless s atted belt 65 which eX- tends in an inclined direction up and out at eeaese the top of the machine for discharging the ears into a wagon driven at the side of, the machine. The belt 65 is driven by a roller 66 mounted in the walls of the chute 64 and pro vided at one end with a ear wheel 67 which meshes with a gear whee 68 on the shaft 11. The upper end of the belt 65 passes around a roller supported by brackets 69 connected at their inner ends to lon itudinal braces 70 provided at their front en 5 with journal bearings for the shafts 26, and their rear ends being secured to the walls of the housing 29.

Mounted underneath the husking roll s 53 is an endless slatted belt 71 designed for carrying the husks upward and backward to de osit them upon a transverse belt 72, said be t 71 being mounted at its lower end upon a roller 73 journaled in the frontportion of the housing 29 and the upper end of said belt passing around a roller 74, also journaled in the housing 29. The belt 71 is moved upwardly by means of a sprocket wheel 75 mounted on the end of the roller 40 at one 1 roll shaft meshes with the gear wheel 49 on the end of the shredder shaft, and a gear wheel on the lower snapping roll shaft (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1) meshes with the gear wheel 49 on the shaft of the upper snapping roll. The bevel pinion 76 on shaft 77 meshes with a bevel pinion 49 on the outer end of the shredder shaft. Underneath the shredding roll 50 is an inclined guide board 81 which dischar es the shredded stalks upon the endless belt 72. The belt 72 is mounted to move upon a roller 82 journaled in a bracket 83 extending across between the two walls of the housing 29, and said roller being journaled at its opposite end in the rear 'wall of the housing. The roller 82 is rotated by a chain 84 leading from a sprocket wheel 85 on the shaft 11 to a sprocket wheel 86 on the end of the upper roller 87 for said belt.

Upon one side of the housing 29 is an opening 88 through which the upper end of the belt 72 discharges the shredded stalks and the husks into a hopper 89 having an outwardly inclined bottom 90, and a hinged door 91 being hinged upon a rod 92 having a squared end 93 to which is connected a link 94, said link having -a connecting rod 95 attached thereto, the opposite end of said rod being connected to a bell crank lever 96, pivoted at 97, to the rear wall of-the housing 29. The bell crank lever 96 has connected to its upper arm a rod 98 attached to a lever 99 adjustably mounted upon a vertical shaft 100 journaled in brackets 101 extending outward from the rear wall of said housing. Connected to the shaft 100 is an arm 102 and 5 an operating wire 103 extends from said arm backward to a foot lever 104 located in front of the drivers seat 105, the purpose of this mechanism being to discharge the contents of the hopper 89. whenever required by the movement of the foot lever 104 and its connections to the door 91.

A clutch mounted on the shaft 1 1 is designed for throwing into and out of operation the variousmechanisms. The clutch consists of a stationary member 106 and a sliding member 107, said sliding member having a groove 108 ,therein engaged by a bifurcated be 1 crank lever 109 pivoted at 110 to a cross bar 111 extending from one wall to the other of the housing 29. A connecting rod 112 extends backward through an opening '113 in the rear wall of the housing to a lever 114 pivoted on the frame of the machine within reach of the driver sitting upon the seat 105.

The housing containin the operative mechanism and the divider boards 3 are con nected to a pivoted frame 115 mounted upon the axle 18 by .means of bearings 116. To tilt this frame and thus adjust the divider boards toward and from the ground, a bell crank lever 117' is pivoted at 118 to the stationary frame'l, and connected by a staple 119 to the rear wall of the housing. The opposite arm of the lever 1 17 is connected by a rod or wire 120'to a lever 121 pivoted'at 122 to the stationary frame 1 and provided with a sector rack 123. This end of the frame is mounted upon ground wheels 124, and the axle of said wheels is pivotally supported upon a sleeve 125 through which a crank handle 126 extends, said crank handle terminating in a suitable handle 12.7 for moving said axle upon its pivotal point to guide the machine.

The operation of my invention may be briefly described as follows: The machine is pushed over the field by means of draft animals attached atopposite sides of the machine in the rear thereof, and the divider of corn and lead the stalks up to the cutter bar 20', while the reel arms 31 engage the stalks as they rotate inwardly and deposit the stalks u on the conveyer 39 with the tops or heads of the stalks disposed upwardly. The snapping rolls 48 engage the stalks and as they pass between said rolls, the ears of corn are snapped off the stalks and they fall upon the guide board 52 from which they are discharged upon the husking rolls 53. The husks are drawn throu h between the rollers and drop uponthe end ess belt 71 which conboards extend upon opposite sides of a row rolls 53 through the opening 63 onto the belt which carries them upward and discharges I them into a Wagon at the side of the machine.

The stalks being carried between the snap upon which the housing and the divider boards are supported is tilted by means of the lever 121 to move thedivider boards toward and from the ground, while the machine is guided in its movements by means of the crank handle 127.

From the foregoing it will be understood that a machine constructed in accordance with myinvention will cut stalks, carry them up to the snapping husk the corn, dischar e the husked ears, carry the husks up and d eposit them upon an endless conveyer, shred the stalks and discharge them u on the same conveyer, and carry said shre ded stalks and husks to a discharge ho per, thus utilizing all parts of the stalkand iusk as a fodder, and at thesame time delivering the husked ears to a wagon.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In a corn harvesting machine, divider boards, gathering chains, reels located upon opposite sides of said divider boards and comprising vertical shafts having cranked portions extending in four, directions outwardly from said shafts, gathering arms pivotally connected to said cranked portions,

and connecting rods pivotally connected to I said gathering arms at one end, extending rearwardly, and the opposite ends pivoted to the frame of the machine.

2. In a machine of the character described,

the combination of divider boards, gathering chains provided with fingers projecting beyond'the inner edges of'said divider boards, gathering reels comprising vertically disposed crank shafts, curved' gathering arms pivoted to the crank portions of said shafts, connecting rods pivotally connected to said-gathering arms at one end, said rods being. extended rearwardly and their opposite ends pivoted rollers, snap off the ears,

.to the frame of the machine, a reciprocating cutter bar disposed under the gathering arms; and an endless conveyer in rear of said cutter bar.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination ofdivider boards, gathering chain's'provided with fingers projecting beyond the inner edges of the divider boards, vertically disposed crank shafts, curved gathering arms mounted to rotate upon said veys the husksupwardly and deposits them crank shafts, connecting rods pivotally conupon the transverse belt 72, the

, 55 being discharged from the lower ends of the l sked ears i nected to said gathering arms at one end,

said rods .being extended rearwardly. and

A &

their op osite ends pivoted to the frame of the mac .ine, and a reciprocating cutter bar under the gathering arms.

4. In a machine of the character described, divider boards, gathering chains rovided with fingers projecting beyond tfie inner edges of the dlvider boards, a reciprocating cutter bar, gathering reels comprislng verti -cally disposed crank shafts, curved gathering arms pivoted to said crank shafts, links pivotally connected to said gathering arms and extending backwardly and connected to the frame of the machine;

In testimony whereof, I aifix in presence of two Witnesses.

' RAY ROBINSON.-

-Wi'tnesses:

JOHN D. HAsKELL, Mrs. E. REPINE.

my signature 

